


nothing but a tiny spark

by TechnoSkittles



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Idk what to even tag this as really, alcohol mention, just an entirely self-indulgent fic, space lesbians, super brief tho, that I wrote in a half-trance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:26:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24731539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TechnoSkittles/pseuds/TechnoSkittles
Summary: The girl - Catra shivers when she recalls plush lips against the shell of her ear, a breath of air (loud and deafening against the static of the jukebox in the corner) that says "Adora" - turns around. She continues to walk backwards. Her hair waving over her shoulders like she's floating through water or space - suspended on a different plane of existence that Catra cannot reach but only chase."We're almost there."Catra's never felt farther, but her pace quickens nonetheless.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 101





	nothing but a tiny spark

The packed sand shifts beneath their feet, crunching and grating, as the night pulls around them. The expanse of the desert adjacent to this backwater little roadside town stretches around them - large and vast, making Catra feel oh so very small and insignificant. The stars that dangle from the sky, a mobile of twinkling lights and ethereal beings that keep watch and pass judgement, loom over them in an array of shining blues, purples, pinks, yellows, oranges, greens and reds and every color imaginable as well as those that are lost to human comprehension.

The dry desert wind, a biting chill that contrasts the sweltering and rippling heat of the late afternoon, whips her hair around her shoulders. Grains of sand that are kicked loose from their footsteps whirl around, scratching her cheeks and nose and lips, soaking the moisture and painting her raw and miserable.

But she follows the head of dancing blonde hair that leads her astray, far from civilization and deep into the unknown and the mysterious because alcohol and stunning baby blues are one hell of a negotiating team.

Logic tells her this is the stuff of horror movie thrillers and front page headlines. She imagines the way her name and story might sound on some true crime podcast in the distant future, years long after she's decayed and vanished from the living pane only to become the whisper of a memory. A cautionary tale to those who might also be dumb enough to follow strange blonde girls into empty deserts absent of witnesses, just because their hearts and knees go weak when luscious pink lips quirk up into a tantalizing smile and blue eyes glow unnaturally in the dim light of some rundown bar.

Her feet keep moving forward, because curiosity killed the cat and she's not one to break the cycle.

The girl - Catra shivers when she recalls plush lips against the shell of her ear, a breath of air (loud and deafening against the static of the jukebox in the corner) that says "Adora" - turns around. She continues to walk backwards. Her hair waving over her shoulders like she's floating through water or space - suspended on a different plane of existence that Catra cannot reach but only chase.

"We're almost there."

Catra's never felt farther, but her pace quickens nonetheless.

They're approaching some sort of plateau, low to the ground like some kind of elevated disk of land. She'd seen it in the distance when she drove into this town - a distant protector, a stretched gate that separated the valley from whatever else lay beyond it. Up close, it's higher than she realized.

When they reach it, Adora begins to climb, strong arms working effortlessly, like she's pulling it down instead of pulling herself up. She only pauses when she's a few feet off the ground, shimmering blonde curled around toned shoulders. She expects Catra to follow…

And follow Catra does.

She's not nearly as strong, but she's lithe and agile and catches up at a steady pace. They both reach the top, and when Catra does she's winded and heaving. As sweat drips down her brow, dotting the sand beneath her feet, she looks up to see Adora watching her. No strain. No heavy breathing. Hair tidy and face dry and smooth.

It's alien. It's unnatural. It's unreal.

When Adora realizes she's been caught, she offers a shy smile, head tilted in a way that sends her hair cascading like a golden waterfall, flowing and swaying like it's alive.

"Your eyes are beautiful."

The chill disappears and Catra feels her body thrum at the compliment.

They stand there as Catra continues to catch her breath, fingers twitching on her knees as she takes in the surroundings around them. The plateau stretches even further inwards, another expanse of dry, cracked soil, too large to see where it tapers off to. But here, the night is clearer….different.

A liminal space, elevated from the plane she had grown up on, an unexplainable aura and beauty to it that, for some reason, she feels she will forget as soon as she leaves. A breath of a memory, a blur of an image, as elusive as trying to grab onto smoke.

She almost hates herself for it, but she has to break the silence, before she's overwhelmed with something that she feels she was never meant to be able to handle. "So what's up here that you felt the need to drag me across a desert for?"

Adora turns to look at her, tearing her eyes from the sky, and gives her a giddy smile. She's an odd one, something Catra had placed at the bar from the way that she had sat cross-legged on one of the tabletops, mouthing lyrics to a song with no words. The way her skin glowed a brilliant gold in the dim green lighting of the lamps. How everyone in the bar seemed to avoid her entirely, or failed to acknowledge her presence at all. A ghost or mirage - a shimmering image out of place in a world too consumed with itself to notice salvation embodied in one small form.

"I want to show you something," she echoes her words from the bar, eyes glinting under starlight.

At the time, she had asked why her, of all people. She was just some stranger passing through - no one of importance, no one worth the trouble or effort. She was a drifter, aimlessly wandering, seeking something she had long ago accepted she may never find.

So why her?

And, as cryptic as cryptic can get, Adora had smiled, leaned close, her words brushing Catra's lips and piercing her very soul:

"That's _exactly_ why."

And now, Adora gives her that same look from before. Raising a hand, she brushes some of Catra's hair from her face, cool and electrifying, warm and soothing, and instinctively Catra leans towards it. When her hand falls to Catra's jaw, she brings up her other hand to cradle her face, eyes intense and enthralling, daring Catra to look away.

"Watch closely," she whispers, eyes half-lidded. "Don't blink."

Catra can only nod dumbly, shivering as fingertips trail her jaw as Adora pulls away slowly, but holds her in place nonetheless with her gaze alone.

Then Adora points upwards, head tilting back, and Catra follows her gaze, finding the eyes of the universe blinking back at her, pulsing and shining and weeping stardust. The insignificance returns full-force and Catra knows that if she were to collapse and fold into nothingness, they would not shed any tears, would not even acknowledge she was ever there.

She is inconsequential. She is nothing.

They would remain where she is absent, exist where she has disappeared, and nothing would change or shift in the grand scheme of things.

A body presses against hers from behind and she jumps, surprised at the contact and confused on when Adora had managed to move. One hand rests on her shoulder, the other cupped around her jaw, grip firm yet gentle.

"Don't," Adora chides softly into her ear. "Don't think. Just watch."

So she empties her mind, and looks to the sky once again, content to just feel and gaze at worlds upon distant worlds. Adora's hand moves from her face once more and hovers in front of the both of them, fingers outstretched towards the starry heavens. They swirl slowly in circles, trace patterns and shapes in the air, sun and moonlight brimming at her fingertips.

Ever so slowly, the sky shifts. The stars move, pulsing gently as they're repositioned, following the same patterns that Adora is idly tracing in the air. The night twists and turns, spin and pirouettes, bending and bowing to the whim of a simple girl.

One who is unseen by the world around her, drifting between planes, and privy to universal secrets that no one cares to search for.

Catra turns, eyes wide and brimming with awe, to find Adora awash in stardust, hair lifted now like she's completely submerged. Her eyes glow a brilliant blue - godly and impossible - as she shimmers brighter than the sun.

Adora smiles, hand still conducting the stars and milky ways, and reaches out with her other hand, wrapping it around the back of Catra's neck. She pulls her closer, and a heat explodes inside her chest when she's pulled closer, vision flashing white when soft lips claim hers. It tears her apart, pulling her in different directions until - with a gentle caress and soft sigh - she's being stitched back together, each atom and molecule rebuilding from scratch

Something is shifting. Something is changing.

A fire burns bright, melting and molding, and she feels invigorated, _renewed_.

Reborn.

Adora pulls away with a grin, eyes flashing a supernova blue.

Catra looks down and sees freckles of constellations, glowing and flowing across her skin. Ingrained into her being. Reflected in the night sky. Galaxies upon galaxies tattooed across her body, wrapping her in their light and life and mystery.

She pulses in sync with the universe and realizes that it's the home she's never known.

The place she's always belonged. The purpose she's tried and failed to find.

Adora speaks, her voice echoing in her head and buzzing across her skin.

"Now you see what I see."

Yeah.

She does.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know
> 
> Was listening to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi0AwkAsoBg) and got carried away
> 
> Follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/TechnoSkittles) and [tumblr](https://technoskittles.tumblr.com/) for more fic-related updates


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